Friday, March 18, 2016

FACE-OFF FRIDAY: Online Learning vs. McDojo - Which Would You Choose?

This week's question is a little different. I am interested in when (if ever) online learning is preferable to training with a teacher.

Here's the scenario I'd like for you to consider:

Joe WannaLearn lives in a small, remote town in the middle of nowhere. He really, really wants to learn a martial art.

Near Joe is a bad martial arts school - no contact at all, all forms, spinny-dancey McDojo of the highest order.

There is literally no other quality school for Joe within 400 miles (650 km) . Joe has a job, but it's a relatively low paying one, so taking a trip to a quality school, paying the cost of transport, training, hotel, and maybe even taking unpaid days off his job is not reasonable. The McDojo, however is well within Joe's meager budget.

Joe has found, however, a set of instructional videos (either online streaming or via DVD) that are in a quality martial art system. At least, they're better than the McDojo. However, he has nobody to train with, and he will learn and test via video with his instructor.